Lorenzo Martinez

Mrs. Perkins

English 101

25 September 2021

Sports in the Lense of a Young Boy

Football is something other than a game for me, it is an outlet to carry on with my life

and be who I really need to be. At the point when I began I was 8 years of age with Santa Rosa

Stallions and made such countless new companions. The vast majority of those companions I

met then are my companions now. Probably my closest companion Bobby has been my closest

companion since I met him at football training and we remained playing together until we

graduated at Montgomery High School. It instructed me that being devoted to my game gave me

quite a lot more trust in all that I do and enormously affects who I am currently.

As a kid I always looked up to athletes, they were my heroes. The first chance I had to go

sign up for football was at 8 years old and I seized the opportunity. I started playing for Coach

Darell on the Mighty Mites for the Santa Rosa Stallions. After getting the kids used to the

exercise for a couple weeks, Coach made us all do this activity called “The Fair”. This is where

we had to do 100 yards for bear crawls, 100 yards of backpedaling, 100 yards of log rolls, 100

yards of broad jumps and 100 yards of sprints. He made us do this all four times for a week

straight. Lots of the kids stopped showing up; day after day there were fewer and fewer people

coming. As a young boy being put through this I realized that I couldn't quit. If I quit I wouldn’t

only be giving up on myself, but I would be giving up on my team, my brothers. I was the one

that chose to play and when I put on those pads it was a commitment. Realizing that it wasn’t
just me being impacted if I quit, day after day I went and continued to work for my spot on the

team. After The Fair, we were left with 32 out of the 65 kids that tried out. Our Coach then told

us something that I would never forget; “The day you don't want to, is the day you need to.” At a

young age I lived by that religiously. In any situation I didn’t want to do something I told myself

I needed to. It taught me to not be lazy and take care of business, even if I don't feel like it.

Throughout my football career I've had a couple injuries. Right before my freshman year,

I broke my ankle in the All-Star game. When I went to the doctors they told me I broke my

growth plate in my ankle. It was at the very end of the season so it didn’t stop me from anything

other than the offseason, but I wasn’t able to begin playing on it for another few months. I began

playing 2 weeks before the season started, but was able to earn my starting spot. I played well

with no injuries for a while, until junior year I broke my collarbone. The doctor told me I was out

for the last few games and a part of the offseason again. When I healed up enough to start

playing, I began to prepare for my senior season. I was so excited to play my last season of high

school football, but then I tore my AC joint in the first game. I was supposed to be out for the

season, but I played through it. We only had three games due to covid so I thought it was a fine

idea to just play them out. I ended up messing my joint up even more and stretched my recovery

time out 4 months. Just this year I had to redshirt my freshman year in college due to the joint.

All of these injuries ended up being a surprisingly positive turn of events. It tested me more than

ever, assisted me with acknowledging how lucky I am and reshaped my meaning of the

expression "competitor." To me, being a competitor implies adoring my game and permitting it

to shape me personally. It implies that while my appearance of that enthusiasm might take

various structures in various periods of my life, it will consistently be essential for who I am. It

implies that regardless of what life tosses at me, in sports and in different undertakings, I realize
that I am never, in no way, shape or form "broken" or unable - I am incredibly unimaginable, and

nobody can at any point remove that from me.

Football was consistently a protected zone for me. Even after all that has occurred,

football was consistently there for myself and an outlet to cause me to feel like I am my own

individual. It caused me to feel an ease that I had never genuinely experienced other than my

game. I would have the option to go to the football field and fail to remember every one of my

issues. It would remove me from this present reality and cause me to feel like nothing could

trouble me. On the off chance that I had issues at home, everyday life individuals, the football

field would constantly be there for me. I discovered that a great many people aren't generally

there for you, however a football field has never walked out on me. It is consistently there

consistently of the day, regardless the field is consistently there for me reliably. My mentors and

partners caused me to feel like I was at ease. Having that bond with them helped me all through

the cruel occasions that come throughout everyday life. The young men in the group aren't

simply companions, it's a brotherhood. It truly worked out in secondary school. You play with

the same people for four years. Some may leave, yet the ones that stay are your brothers for life.

They remain together through thick and thin and never turn their backs on eachother.

Each occasion in my life has had a justification for it occurring however toward the finish

of all that I generally realized that football would constantly be there for me. The field has never

failed me and will continue to do so. Regardless of whether I need to let out some steam or use it

to make new companions, something will consistently remain as a cherished memory to me. A

game in a youngster's life can develop into who they are as an individual and makes them into

the individual they really are in their heart.